Aruba’s zippier 802.11n Access Point comes at a/b/g price-points, makes all-wireless LANS meaningful
Key software for the AP-105 family, ‘ made in India’
“Go wireless, where you can; wired only where you must”, that is the mantra that, Aruba ( www.Arubanetworks.com)  , the world’s no. 2 enterprise networks provider and a leader in the wireless LAN business would offer to corporate customers worldwide. On Thursday, the Sunnyvale, California (US)-based player unveiled a new family of compact, dual- frequency access points that work to the newly ratified 802.11n standard which promises bit rates that are 30 to 60 times faster than the earlier 802.11a/b/g standards.
And at just over $ 800 the AP-105 access point which weighs in at around 440 grams, is also significantly cheaper to deploy than competing products, Aruba’s India Sales Director Shalendra Singh said at the Bangalore launch.
The Aruba offering, part of a suite of three products in this space, comes at a time when wireless is overtaking wired access networks for the first time and is set to gradually supplant Ethernet as the dominant enterprise access technology, pointed out Aruba COO, Hitesh Sheth.
With some 130 plus Indian customers and a 60-strong R&D team in Bangalore, India is at the forefront of both research investment and headcount for Aruba, Sheth added.
Alok Kothari, Managing Director, Aruba Networks in India pointed to significant Indian contribution to the software that fuels the new 802.11n devices as well as other upcoming products.

-Anand Parthasarathy, Bangalore, Oct 22